Salvador Mercer - Lunar Discovery

Julie explained their situation and informed them of the status of the Russian cosmonauts, painfully aware that the crew of the Gordust was listening to them. “Recommendations?” she asked.

Rock picked up his PTT mike and nodded to Jack, keying it at the same time. “Roger, Julie, copy your situation. Advise you return ASAP to the lander and prep for departure. We’re showing the alien signal down right now, but radiation levels are up. Best if we commence with the last phase of our mission.”

Julie understood the ramifications and had held back any information on the alien glass slide she had taken. She felt it again, and not for the last time, still in her suit’s pocket. “Roger, Houston, we will return now. The ejecta from the blast seems to have ceased.”

“Roger, Blackjack , contact us from the lander. Houston to Gordust , can we keep this channel open, and thanks for your assistance,” Rock finished.

“Houston, this is Gordust . We will keep the channel active, just push to talk as long as we’re in range.”

“Roger, Houston out.”

There was a sense of hope in the control center as Rock looked at Mr. Smith. “When can we tell her?”

Mr. Smith looked up from the tablet that Mrs. Brown had been using to take notes on the sudden and unexpected restoration of communications with their crew. “You can inform her about the Chinese astronaut when they reach the lander.”

“Do you intend for us to rescue him?” Rock asked.

“Yes, he has a certain value for intelligence purposes,” Mr. Smith said.

“Well, for once we’re in agreement, just not for the right reasons,” Rock said.

Apollo Lander

Surface of the Moon, Marianas Plain

In the near future, Day 48

“For the love of God, can’t we get a break?” Craig asked rhetorically as the rover pulled up to the lander.

Julie couldn’t see up front, but she heard Craig clearly. “What now?”

Craig flipped a switch to activate the lights on the lander, illuminating the entire area in a three-hundred-sixty-degree circle. “Looks bad. Let’s check it out.”

Julie started to put her helmet and gloves on. The front compartment of the rover was cracked, and Craig didn’t bother risking a blowout by pressurizing it, so he already had his suit on and simply stepped out.

“I’m right behind you,” Julie said, getting a comforting latching sound on her helmet and then twisting both glove locks on and securing her suit, which pressurized immediately. She opened the door after depressurizing her rear cabin and followed Craig.

The scene was depressing. Several basketball-sized rocks had landed in the area, strewn out across the visible distance, and an unlikely strike had one of the rocks either hitting or ricocheting off the side of the lander, breaching one of the two main propellant tanks on the starboard side of the craft. What looked like water ice was all over the surface around the ruptured tank. Julie knew it was propellant.

“That’s just great. Game over, man,” Craig despaired, walking around the ruptured tank and looking at the lander, scratched in many places along its side.

“Is the interior breached?” Julie asked.

“I don’t know. I’ll need to get inside and pressurize it to see. I just don’t see how we can perform a two stage burn to get back to our orbiter.”

“Get inside, perform a systems check, and let me know. I’ll raise Houston on the main freq. We good with that?” Julie asked.

“Yeah, we are now patched into the transceiver onboard Blackjack . You can transmit when ready,” Craig said, moving toward the airlock underneath of the lander by the aluminum ladder.

“ Apollo to Gordust , over,” Julie said.

“Go ahead Apollo ,” Yuri’s voice replied.

“We have reached our lander and will be using our own radio now. Thanks for the assist.”

“Roger, Apollo , we are about to hit the dayside terminator and swing around. We’ll be out for an hour or so. Luck and speed.”

“Copy,” Julie replied, switching her wristband channel indicator to use the lander’s system via an intercom system. “Houston, this is Blackjack , over.”

“Go ahead, Blackjack . This is Houston reading you on primary one, over.”

“Houston, be advised that we have a catastrophic failure of fuel tank two due to ejecta damage, minimal damage to struts three and four, as well as a slight fracture of the outer hull on the starboard side. We are running a diagnostic now. Will report, over.”

“Roger, Blackjack , major failure on fuel tank two, minimal to struts three and four, minor fracture on outer shell, starboard side.”

“That’s affirmative, Houston.”

“We have information for you as well, Blackjack . Be advised that seventeen miles due west we’ve located a signal from the Chinese lander, one astronaut sending out a Mayday. Can you assist?”

Julie heard the call, but it took her a minute to process the news. “Affirm, Houston, do you have coordinates on him?”

“Being sent to your display now on the data feed.”

“Roger, wait one, Houston,” Julie said, clicking her wrist pad from main to local. “Craig, did you monitor that last?”

“Yeah, I got it. He’s probably dead as well. Been there for several days if our reporting was correct. You can’t be serious about going, though, can you?”

“Well, you took the time to retrieve the Russians. Why not do the same for the Chinese? I know I’d want my body returned if at all possible.”

“It’s your call, Jules,” Craig said.

“What’s our status?”

“Bad, Jules. We have only fifty percent of total propellant load in tank one, and we’ll need ninety percent to reach our orbiter. With the two-stage move, the calcs were cutting it too close, and this just screwed our pooch, but good. We aren’t going anywhere.”

“Better let Houston know,” she said, keying the mike manually after switching on the main channel. “Houston, be advised we are at fifty percent fuel load at this time. All other systems are a go.”

“Roger, Blackjack , we’re working it. Confirm receipt of coordinates.”

“Coordinates received, Blackjack , mobile en route. Will advise upon arrival, over and out.”

“All right, Jules, I’m showing the bottom transfer pump intact and will try to transfer any propellant not frozen from the bottom of tank two over to tank one,” Craig said.

“Sounds good. I’ll advise when I arrive. Can you help me with the Russians first, though?”

“Sure, on my way,” Craig said, appearing at the door to the lander and coming down to help Julie remove the Russian bodies. Julie got inside the rear compartment and removed the lock on the robotic arms and moved them up and out of the way. In quick order, they had both bodies moved to the base of the lander. “I’ll take care of them. Go see to our Chinese astronaut and get back here as soon as you can.”

“Keep the main channel open,” Julie said, retrieving a spare ion battery module from one of the outer storage compartments on the lander and placing it in the same basket where the Russians had been. “A little insurance, just in case.”

“Yeah, the power levels on the rover were showing close to fifty percent. You should have more than enough to go there and return,” Craig said.

Julie walked to the front and got in the operating compartment, turning to make sure the two spare oxygen tanks were still there from their wild ride. “I’m just playing it safe. I’d hate to get out there and find that we had a short in the wiring or a gauge problem with the power levels.”